A Samurai falls.

[has.been]

Two of us (Sam & I) played a Samurai game.
Again I chose to use 'The Pikeman's Lament' (with some  amendments) for the rules.

969 = View from the Tower towards the bridge. This was (to me) the right of the battle.
          Mouri Hiromoto (Sam) Led half his command towards this bridge. The rest of his
          troops were deployed far to his right, the other side of the village. A tactical error?
970 = Takeda Shingen (Me  ) Deployed his entire force in line. The right flank resting
          against the Tower, the left on the farm of Hasbeen san (a famous artist )
971 = My archer I placed behind the hedge. Some protection should they be attacked.
972 = To add to Sam's problems his right wing had to move though & around Paddy fields.
          This is all going well.
973 = Even if he got passed the choke point of the bridge, the ladies outside the Tavern
          would distract his thirsty soldiers with good Saki.
975/976/974 = Views of the bridge. Hold him there & the battle is won.

[has.been]

977 = The Coy pond. Of no importance at all to the battle, but it looks pretty.
978 = My right advance towards the bridge. Sam maneuvers his archers to line the
          far bank, but they do little damage.
979 = meanwhile my left behaves very badly  . (OOPS had to add this at the end)
           My archers fail do do any damage to Sam's right as it advances. Too late my
           guys find out that a bow & a hedge are no match for armoured men with Naginatas.
980 = With Sam's boys into the farm of that well loved artist Hasbeen San  my left
          is in great danger.
981 & 982 = Then great news! A Ninja attack on The Mouri General at the bridge.
                    He fends them of as if they were children!
983 = But wait... ANOTHER Ninja attack on Hiromoto Mouri at the bridge. This time it will succeed.
           Not a snowball in Hell chance as it turns out. Note to self, 'Get some new Ninja.' 
984 = Literally the last throw of the dice. I get 11 out of 12 successes in a melee,
          but it is not enough. I have to concede. The Takeda clan are defeated. .

It was a VERY bloody fight. Units stayed on the field well beyond any reasonable expectation.
Both commanders left the field (more about them later) while the slogging match left the
field awash with blood.
During the fight Hiramoto Mouri (Sam) gained an honour point for acting with Panache,
while I lost one for acting without Panache.  .

What we did forget, probably due to too much chatting (My fault) was the rest of the Honour
points and what happened to the two leaders as they had left the battlefield.
As the winner Sam was due to 5 more Honour points. (Running totals, Mouri 22, Takeda 19)
I took the liberty of doing the post battle dice throws for the two officers. Two dice each.
Mouri scored 8 = Wounded but rescued by his loyal soldiers.
Takeda scored 2! Yes a lousy TWO !!!! = Died like a coward, begging for quarter.

Fun was had, so I count that as a success.

Mention must be made of the lovely paint job on (nearly all) the figures. This was NOT done
by me, but my friend Andy Taylor. He also scratch built the tower which I failed to photograph.
My hope it is on  one of Sam's pictures.

[joekano]

Great looking game - thanks for sharing!

[vodkafan]

You have added some  new Japanese terrain bits since our last Samurai game.
I remember the rain in the middle of the night making the river into a raging torrent that killed off some mounted Samurai.

[Zingara]

Great looking collection Pete, and terrain looks a treat - including the Koi pond :-).

[marianas_gamer]

Nice looking game. I blame the loss on the archers!

[flatpack]

Very nice Pete

[Romark]

 

[has.been]

Many thanks for the nice comments guys.
Please keep watching as there will be a follow up game.
Will the Takeda clan be avenged?

[syrinx0]

Is it possible for the Takeda to recover their honor after such a horrible showing by their commander? So sad.

Lovely Koi pond though. 

[has.been]

Is it possible for the Takeda to recover their honor after such a horrible showing by their commander? So sad.

Lovely Koi pond though. 

Thanks for the nice comment about the pond. It came about because I had the
bridge, & it was to nice to chuck out.  The only way I could think to use such a
small bridge was over a fish pond.

As to Takeda honour...two new players will find out later today.
I had to dice up a new leader for the Takeda. He turned out to be
a 'foreigner'    (His Mother was Takeda, but his Father wasn't)
As a result, the troops don't trust him (No '+1' for morale tests when he is near).

Good start!   

[has.been]

A Samurai falls, the next instalment.

Two 'new' players. How will they do?
986 = Close up on the compass (taken off when the game started) Here mainly because
          the previous Takeda Commander (Me) seemed completely lost.
987 = Overview. (North to the left). Takeda are on the West edge. Mouri on the Eastern edge.
           NW corner is the Temple entrance.
           NE is the Daimyo's castle. No-one wants to annoy him.
989 = The big man himself, preparing to see what these two minor lords will do.
992 = View from the Temple.
988 = But wait...who is that leaving the Temple?
          It's Takeda Kojiro the new Takeda lord. Rumour has it that the troops don't trust him.
          His mother was Takeda, but his father wasn't.
          No doubt he was praying. He needs all the help he can get.
8000 = Mouri Hiromoto (Bob, aka Flatpack)
8001 = Takeda Kojiro    (John, aka JC)
8003 = Pudsey-San ?  Somehow I don't think the guys are taking this seriously. 

       

[has.been]

998 = Overview from the Mouri side.
999 = & from the Takeda lines.

Background set=up.
Takeda are out for revenge. Kojiro (Little Tree) is now in charge, but as his father was not Takeda,
he was from the Clan Honma, the troops do not trust him, (No +1 for morale tests).

Kojiro made use of the morning mists & was allowed to deploy up to two units within 6" of the 
Mouri troops. Mouri were also forced to deploy first.

Under the rules (Pikeman's lament) players may choose extra missions. On this occassion I chose
for them. 
Kojiro's was an oath that Hiromoto would die this day!
Hiromoto's was that although surprised by this cowardly attack, he realised that Takeda had
over-reached themselves. If he could get at least one unit behind them (nearer to their base line
than any of their units) he would have 'Run Rings Around Them'. 
More of these later.

8004 = Seizing the initiative Hiromoto leads two units over the bridge & heads for (his) left flank.
8005 = Mouri centre weakened by moving those units to the left, now outnumbered.
8006 = The Mouri mounted Samurai hide behind the castle. No doubt hoping to attack the
            Takeda troops from behind.
8008 = Unfortunately for them one of the (dismounted) Takeda Samurai units attacked first.
            The melee was brief but bloody & it was Mouri that ran.
8007 = As soon as the Monks came within charge range they launched a ferocious assault.
            Heavy losses on both units involved. The Monks withdrew, but were able to counter-
            charge the Mouri attack. However this left both units so battered that neither stayed
            much longer on the field of battle.
8009 = It was just as savage in the centre. Fates favoured the Takeda troops (John managed
            two throws of double six while activating ( this means 'something nice' happens. On
            both occasions  he got 'Remove wavering from a unit' This and having more units
            in the centre meant that the final count up gave Takeda the win.

Missions? Told you we would get back to them.
Takeda... Did not come within anything but bow range of Hiromoto, & didn't register any hits
               on the Mouri general. So no honour points for that.
Mouri...Not only did he get a unit behind the Takeda, but TWO. He had 'Run Rings Around Them'
he gained honour for this.

All in all a fun game. Thanks to John & Bob for being a good sports.
Mention of Bob, who took a goodly chunk of the day to sort out my problems with
downloading pictures. I do NOT do technology. I saw masses of screens etc. that I never
knew were there, or how to get to them. Thanks Bob.

[has.been]

While we await the comments of the players,
some other pictures.
993 = Monks, 'Shall we go in?'
996 & 7 = Road-side Sushi anyone?
994 = "You can't park that cart here!"
990 = "Get best noodles here!"
991 = Hasbeen San, well known local artist. 
995 = 'Rabbits keep out!' (Hasbeen San's vegetable patch.

[vodkafan]

What ? So Takeda lost because the other team got behind him? What about the Offside Rule? Where was the Referee?
Only a Portsmouth supporter could devise such a dastardly Victory Condition